All of last year in college i was a mega-AFC towards this one girl. Towards the end, I went to the extremes of AFC.

We split for summer, and although we've exchaged emails a few times over the past few months, I've ridden myself of my AFC ways and haved assume that she's lost all interest. I'm not even really interested in her to be honest.

Herein lies the dillema: i WANT to be her friend, because she's extremely intelligent and helpful, which is what I can benefit from in school. We had a great study-buddy system going on last year, and I'd like (actually, i NEED) to continue that......

My fear is that she'll avoid me because she thinks i still like her. How can I convey that i see her as just a friend, and that i want to be good friends with her and just continue where we left off? i can't afford to lose this friendship....it would be extremely detrimental to the study aspect of college life.

How about being straight up with her:

You - "I'd really like us to keep our study-buddy thing going this year. I'm sorry it worked out the way it did last year, but I want us to be friends, and to be honest I could use your help."

Her - "Um..ok"

or - "No, f*ck off."

Either way you know where you stand. And you know how women hate to say no to our faces.

tell her you have a girl friend..or let her see you with other women..

if you have lost touch with her for a while..chances are she already thinks you have lost interest..so I wouldnt sweat it too much

but Im really glad you have found a study buddy that you rely on to help you get through school that you cant do without..those are 1 in a million

Or you could wear an ascot and a pair of leather chaps and tell her you have a boyfriend... given your "mega-AFC" behavior from last year, it probably wouldn't be too much of a stretch for her to believe you.

On a more serious note: appeal to her ego. Everybody loves that. Tell her you what you've told us, that you think she's smart and could be of assistance to you. After inflating her sense of self, she will be much more likely to oblige. (I think you still want her, btw )